Lady&#39;s skirt.



No. 698,205. Patented Apr.22, I902.

12. LEWIS.

LADYS SKlRT.

(Application filed Feb; 3, 1902.)

(No Model.)

m: mums PETERs co, PHOTaLITHQ. WASHINGTON. I !:v

UNrrEn Y STATES ATENT OFFIGE.

GEORGE LEWIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

LADYS SKIRT.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part Of Letters Patent N0. 698,205, dated April. 22, 1902.

Application filed February 3, 1902. Serial No- 92,384. (No model.)

.sired.

My invention is designed for use more particularlyin connection with skirts which are capable of being washed when soiled, and in connection with such articles has for its primary object to provide a device whereby the lower and outer portion ofthe skirt, whichis more particularly subject to being soiled, may be readily removed and laundered without the necessity of laundering the entire gown.

To this end my invention resides in the combination, with the body of a skirt, of a remov: able ruflie or fiounce for the lower portion thereof, which is adapted to be united to the body of the skirt by a readily-separable joint or connection involving novel features of con struction and operation, substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention is illustrated i n the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a ladys skirt having my invention applied thereto, and

an outer rufiie or fiounce to the body of the.

1 skirt.

In the drawings, A represents the body of the skirt, which is in the usual form. In carrying outm'y invention I preferably provide a tuck B entirely around the lower portion of oular strip of open-work insertion or heading,

(designated by D,) this beading being conveniently stitched to the base, as indicated at d. It will be observed that the central portion of this beading is constituted by a series of loops, (indicated at d',) which are of suflicient size to permit the ready threading or lacing therethrough of an interlocking cord, as hereinafter described. To the upper edge of the fiounce or ruffle C is stitched along its lower edge, as shown at c, a strip of open-work insertion or heading E, which may be of the same form and material as the strip D.

In applying the flounce O to the skirt, the strips of heading D and E having been stitched to the skirt'and fiounce, respectively, in the manner described, the flounce is laid in place with its upper marginal strip of beading E directly overlying the companion strip D on the skirt. A coarse needle threaded with a cord 'F is then run through the looped portions of the two strips, the cord being interwoven loosely between said loops and locking them together. After the cord has thus been threadl ed through the overlapping strips for the entire circumference of the skirt the meeting loose ends of the cord areconveniently passed through a slit or buttonhole G, formed through the material of the body, below the stitched margin of the tuck and above the upper margin of the insertion D and tied in a loose knot (indicatedat H) on the under side of the skirt.

I am aware that detachable flounces and ruffles for ladies skirts, broadly considered, are old; butso far as I am aware these parts, where maderemovable, have been commonly applied by means of buttons, hooks and eyes, and devices of thatgeneral character. Such devices are always objectionable in connection with the laundering of the article for the reason that they are exceedingly liable to get broken or torn off entirely, thus damaging the skirt itself, tosay nothing of the necessity of replacing the fastening devices themselves.

The-fastening means which I employ, in

contradistinction to such devices, will pass through the laundry with no more liability to injury than is possessed by the skirt or the nection therewith and as a feature thereof for the reason that it affords a protection to the joint between the rulile and the skirt, besides concealing the existence of the joint and causing the flounce to present the external appearance of an integral portion of the skirt itself. It will also be obvious that my invention is also applicable to other articles of underwear to which ruffles or flounces are commonly adapted. Such applications of my improved fastening device I consider within the spirit and purview of my invention.

I claim 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a skirt comprising a skirt-body and a flounco or ruflie therefor, and means detachably securing the latter to the former comprising a strip of open-work beading secured around the skirt-body, a strip of open-work beading secured around the upper margin of the fiounce, and a cord laced through said heading-strips and locking them together,substantially as described.

2. As an improved article of manufacture, a skirt comprising a skirt-body, a flounce or ruille to be applied to the lower portion thereof, and means detachably uniting said flounce to the skirt-body comprising a strip of openwork beading stitched around the outside of the skirt-body, a similar strip of beading stitched around the upper margin of the;

fiounce, and a cord lacing through said heading-strips lockingthemtogethelgsubstantially as described.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a skirt comprising a skirt-body having a tuck formed thercaround, and a flounce or ruffle therefor,astrip of open-Work beading stitched to the skirt-body beneath said tuck, a similar strip of heading stitched to the upper margin of the flounce, and a cord laced through said beading-strips and thus detachably securing the fiounce to the skirt-body, substantially as described.

4. As an improved article of manufacture, a skirt comprising a skirt-body having a tuck formed thcrearound and a slit or buttonhole formed therethrough beneath the tuck, and a flounce or ruffle therefor, a strip of openwork beading stitched along its upper margin to the skirt-body beneath the tuck thereof, a similar strip of heading stitched along its lower margin to the upper margin of the fiounce, and an interlocking cord laced through said beading-strips and having its meeting ends passed through said slit and tied therebehind, substantially as described.

GEORGE LEWIS.

\Vitnesscs:

SAMUEL N. POND, FREDERICK O. Goonwm. 

